Do you think you could you cut 30% off your grocery budget?

[YLVD]

Nope, it's as low as it can get. We shop strategically, etc.

 

We can't really cut it more for a few reasons. My daughter has PCOS and is insulin resistant. This means fewer carbs and higher quality ones. If we were to skimp, it would mean a lot of empty carbs and processed stuff and for health reasons, no can do.

 

I also have some dietary restrictions that make it a bit harder.

 

I'm in the Seattle area. IME, the groceries and produce costs here are more expensive than almost anywhere else, save NYC and Hawaii probably. It's way more spendy than even Los Angeles.

[kolamum]

I'd love to, but sales never seem to apply to meat, veggie, & fruit around here. It's very frustrating.

[butterflymommy]

We have done it and more. I tried an experiment to see if I could feed all of us on $100/ week (there are 9 of us-- one breastfeeding). Normally I spend $200-225/ week-- I live in a high COL area.

 

I managed to do it without dipping into supplies I already had stored and kept it up for about 3 weeks.

 

We ate the same thing every day and everything had to be from scratch. I stopped buying paper towel and we used rags (I'm not sure if the extra wash cycles to clean the rags make this cost effective though-- I was running the washing machine to clean the rags 1-2 times a day).

 

Instead of juice we drank water and weak, homemade lemonade. Only 2 of my kids drink milk otherwise we would have rationed it.

 

I made all bread from scratch. I used white flour-- kids are picky and wouldn't eat whole wheat anyway.

 

The daily menu usually looked something like this (everything homemade):

 

bread and quickbread (peanut butter, cream cheese, jam, butter for topping)

 

pizza

 

roasted chicken (we have a counter top rotisserie)

 

french toast

 

fresh fruit for snacks (bananas are cheapest, or whatever was on sale)

 

rice and beans (cheese and sour cream for topping)

 

large amounts of broccoli and romaine

 

brownies or cookies for dessert

 

 

There was little variation from this but my kids are picky... otherwise I could have been more inventive.

 

It was exhausting cooking constantly or always worrying about cooking. I had to really obsessively plan this out to make it work. If I got sick (and I did), there was nothing to eat. In retrospect I think it was a mistake to stop buying fruit juice/ OJ because this is one of the only sources of Vit C the kids get. We all ended up getting sick with the flu and then a stomach bug. Maybe coincidence. There was a lot of pouting and grumbling about food which I found very irritating and stressful. The kids were not happy being switched from store bought bread to homemade bread.:glare:

Edited May 11, 2012 by butterflymommy

[ashfern]

I could easily cut that much by using more coupons & better tracking sales. I just don't enjoy doing that. :tongue_smilie:

[Ecclecticmum]

From what we are doing now? No way, from what we normally do? Yeah that would be what we are currently doing :p

 

We "normally" probably spend about $350-400 a week. Thats all shopping (not just food, and also animal food & stuff). I got us down to $200 a week. But its a paupers diet. Just enough to get the nutrience and filling you need.....lots of effort required, and not all of it is "super tasty"

 

Unfortunately we live in a very very food expensive area. Add to that we are rural (if we go to our "local" shop, its nearly twice the price of our other shop further away, and half the quality). Meat & Fruit are super expensive...there are no "sales" either here or in the other shop. Our country doesn't have coupons. My husband also works in the food industry, so I am aware of what certain brands etc add into their food that I don't want my children to have.

 

I actually keep wishing they had coupons or sales out here. 3 star mince meat is $7-9 500g. It won't get "cheaper" there won't be sales and theres no percent off, the price is the price. apples are $3.50 kg (for the "cheapest" brand) doesn't matter is you travel 3 hours in any direction, that will be the price. The only difference you get out here is quality, e.g. if I go to my local...they'll have perhaps 2-3 of those apples...each one will be mega bruised and basically about to "implode", if I go to the other shop further away, those ones have a thick wax coating....if you bring them home and open them up the centre will be close to rotting...because the apple can't breathe through their layer....go anywhere else and you get stuff ranging from black (i.e. completely covered in fruit flies) bruised, beaten etc.

 

I went to the UK couple of years ago.....and I fell in love....with the supermarket (greenery everywhere...some much fresh, beautiful, cheap fruit & meat) . DH wanted to move out there...I told him if he built a house in the middle of Tesco's parking lot, and made the weather nicer...it would be heaven :tongue_smilie:

 

So the answer is yes, we could do it, we're currently doing it, but its not something we would be able to do long term...it was something we did because an extra bill came in and we had to conserve $$$ for 2 weeks.....and this will end Tuesday.....I'm counting down the hours till I can have a ham sandwich and some salad.

 

Oh....and nothing we buy is organic....we definitely can't afford that. And because of medical problems we have to stick to exact nutritional diets.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Ecclecticmum

[LisaKinVA]

I could do it, if we went back to things like Hamburger Helper, reduced the number of fresh fruits and veggies, and most meat & cheese. I have tended to buy on sale and stock up when I can, so when times are tough we still have chicken and hamburger in the freezer.

 

This month is tight...so I've been keeping the food budget to about $100/week (that's about 50% of what we normally spend). I can only do that because I stocked up during sales and when finances were better. I have enough to stretch our food budget for another few weeks, but after that our freezers will be practically empty, and we'll be down to beans and rice.

[MrsBear]

I just had to do this at FIL's house; since MIL passed away, the grocery bills there have crept up to over $1000 a month! After reviewing the receipts, the easiest cuts came from reducing the prepared foods and frozen foods and then planning ahead by creating a menu for the week from the sale circulars so I'd know, for example, which store in the "loop" of three I can go to, has the best price of something like blueberries. I also worked with the caregivers to create a list of things that are "always" in the house so we can wait for sales to stock up rather than buy when it's out and not on sale and priced higher (like mayonnaise, paper towels, etc.) and/or which stores have the lowest everyday prices if something runs out (like for organic milk).

 

The caregivers were going to only one store, without a plan, and just buying whatever, regardless of price.

 

Over the last month I've done the planning and shopping, and the grocery bills (which include paper, HBA, etc.) are back in line with a reasonable budget, <$600 a month. It takes about an hour to go through the circulars and plan out a menu that's flexible to make different meals from the things bought....and about an hour to do the shopping.

[KungFuPanda]

:iagree: I felt guilty reading this thread too. We don't do organic because we can't afford it. But I don't like the implication that means I feed my kids junk.

 

They don't think you're feeding them junk, they think you're feeding them poison. :D I don't do exclusively organic either. I try for the worst offenders . . .if I remember. We have a pick-your-own farm fairly close. They're too small-scale to jump through official hoops to be labeled 'organic' but I'm completely comfortable with their produce. I have too many trees to have a garden. :-( Around here,its at least 1k to take down a tree, so it never seemed cost effective to remove them.

 

I'd love to, but sales never seem to apply to meat, veggie, & fruit around here. It's very frustrating.

 

I have a Food Lion two blocks away. I'm in there all the time. The best sales I see aren't advertised. I'm getting my meat much cheaper just by going in more often and seeing what's marked down just in that store for quick sale.

 

For produce and some pantry staples, I go to a large ethnic market that sells a lot of Asian and Hispanic foods. I do really well in there, but it takes me more time because a lot of the products are unfamiliar to me.

[Kathryn]

Interestingly I think I spend more money when I use coupons. For weeks I was using coupons and I did get some good deals, but my grocery bills were high. The past couple of weeks I just didn't feel like dealing with it. I wrote out a list based on what I planned to make. I went shopping. I didn't use a single coupon. I spent significantly less, without really trying to, than when I use coupons. It's like with coupons I just buy stuff I wouldn't buy otherwise.

D

 

:iagree: we buy and eat more junk when using coupons. If I make a list and stick to eat, our bill stays lower. We spend about $500 a month for four people.

[DawnM]

This.

 

When we both worked full time (read: we had plenty of money) I just bought what I wanted from the grocery store. I am embarrassed at how much got wasted. VERY embarrassed. We used to spend $800/month for four of us and two were toddlers or under age 7. That was before our 3rd.

 

I now spend far less than that for 5 of us, and the boys eat a LOT more! I am just far more intentional about my buying and planning. We RARELY throw things out now.

 

Dawn

 

:iagree: Be religious about eating those leftovers. Nothing gets wasted.

[LisaKinVA]

:iagree: we buy and eat more junk when using coupons. If I make a list and stick to eat, our bill stays lower. We spend about $500 a month for four people.

 

I'm careful about my couponing. I use lots of coupons to stock up on staples (such as...pickles. One week, I purchased 10 jars of pickles for $2.50...) I have coupons for donation items (they want non-perishables, much of which we don't purchase for ourselves, canned soup, hamburger helper, etc.), and then, most of my coupons are for personal care and cleaning supplies. I save a LOT on those (I have a nice stash of toothbrushes and toothpaste, for example...from matching a clearance price with a double coupon).

 

In general, though I do save more money using coupons than not -- as long as I stick to stuff I would normally buy. My favorite, is a buy-one-get-one free on dishwasher detergent matched with a coupon (I can use one coupon for each item, so even while Rite Aid doesn't double coupons, it's LIKE doubling the coupon). I may "spend more" than I normally would for dishwasher detergent in a given month...but I wind up with a year's supply and don't have to purchase any for a long, long time. That kind of buying saves in the long run.

 

I really need to get back to couponing...haven't done it since we moved.

[LaxMom]

They don't think you're feeding them junk, they think you're feeding them poison. :D I don't do exclusively organic either. I try for the worst offenders . . .if I remember. We have a pick-your-own farm fairly close. They're too small-scale to jump through official hoops to be labeled 'organic' but I'm completely comfortable with their produce. I have too many trees to have a garden. :-( Around here,its at least 1k to take down a tree, so it never seemed cost effective to remove them.

I don't think that at all. We eat mostly organic, and mostly local in season. I would hate for anyone to feel guilty about their grocery choices based on how I eat.

 

I think, like everything else in life, it's about being realistic about where you are while always looking for ways to do better. In feeding your family, there is a huge range from eating every meal through the drive-thru window to everything local, organic, and cooked from scratch. You do the best you can with the resources you have, and always have an eye toward improvements you can make here and there, when the opportunity presents itself or you can create it.

 

I could probably cut our grocery budget by 30%, or at least get close to that. We could definitely be more conscious of using leftovers, and I could be better about the number of ingredients per meal. I could definitely drop in more meatless meals. We used to do that. I think the hardest part for us is that I'm gluten free, so "cheap" staples (bread, pasta, flour) aren't anymore. Sigh.

[Lady Florida.]

I probably could, but I don't want to and don't need to. I have it at a level that I'm comfortable with, and it even allows us extras. Of course if I had to cut back the extras would be the first to go.

[Pretty in Pink]

I could and did this past month. It was hard and I didn't like it. It meant that I bought no organic animal products and we ate nearly all vegetarian meals (we normally do about half and half). I hate buying conventional animal products. That was hard for me. I also found myself doing things like halving fruit and splitting it between two kids when I would normally just give them each a whole piece and carefully portioning things like milk and oatmeal and, well, everything really. My kids were complaining constantly that they were hungry (which they do regardless, so it wasn't anything new, but I was worried that they really were hungry...ugh). We even went through a few cases of Ramen noodles. :glare:

 

Thankfully I can now return to my regular grocery budget or something close to it. I cut our budget by about 40% last month.

[momto2Cs]

Umm...no. Not even possible. If I cut it by 30%, I would be left with just over $100/month for a growing boy, myself and 4 cats.

 

Well... I guess it is possible - DS and I could share a box of mac-and-cheese every day with a banana for the second meal. But that wouldn't make either of us happy.

 

Gives me a headache just thinking about it.

 

If I cut mine by 30%, we'd be at around $200 a month for 4 people, 2 dogs, and a cat. I don't think any of us would be happy with that.

[Audrey]

I probably could, but I don't want to and don't need to. I have it at a level that I'm comfortable with, and it even allows us extras. Of course if I had to cut back the extras would be the first to go.

 

 

I feel this way, too, but I have to add the disclaimer that we grow a lot of our own food already, which makes costs quite low overall.

 

I still try to keep other food costs to a minimum. It actually pisses me off to have to pay money for food. I never used to feel that way, but I think I'm just getting older and crankier. I have to have something irrational to complain about! :lol:

 

That said, I think the biggest cuts I've made in overall groceries has been in the non-food items. I don't buy a lot of paper products, for example. No paper napkins, no paper towels, no paper plates or cups, etc. I use washable substitutes for those things. It has really cut down the budget more than I had thought it would. I didn't know how much of that stuff I was buying until I didn't buy it anymore. Also, I don't buy a bunch of cleaning products. Vinegar, bleach, ammonia, baking soda -- those are my regular arsenal for cleaning. The one exception is Lysol wipes for the bathroom, but that's my cave-in to one of my OCD tics. For $2.99 a month, I get to stay sane in the bathroom. It's worth it. So says my dh. :D

 

Other things that help is to watch for the seasonal produce and stay away from out of season produce. I haven't bought meat in so long, I'm not sure what it costs anymore, but man! We go through fruits and veggies like crazy it seems. Keeping to the seasonal stuff helps me not be so pissed off at spending $ on food.

 

I know we could spend a lot less, but like you, floridamom, I don't really want to anymore. It's a comfortable budget the way it is now. I know it could be much less if it needed to be, and that's okay with me for now.

[Jenny in Florida]

I've cut ours about that much in the last several months.

 

When I don't pay attention and respond to everyone's requests for treats, our budget for four (two adults, two teens, one vegetarian and three vegans) creeps up to about $175. For the last several months, I've been holding the line at $125.

 

There were a few weeks when I went over budget, but the last two weeks I've spent only about $100 and gotten us back on track.

 

Things we've been doing differently:

 

- no expensive vegan ice cream.

- making my own breads and tortillas.

- just generally buying fewer packaged foods and snack items.

- shopping more at Aldi's.

- watching ads for when I do shop at Target and/or Publix.

 

I don't buy meat. I buy few regular dairy products, although I do buy cheese and sour cream for my husband. I don't clip coupons. I do still buy sodas for the three of us that drink them.

[butterflymommy]

They don't think you're feeding them junk, they think you're feeding them poison. :D

 

:lol: We never do organic either. Way too much money.

 

For produce and some pantry staples, I go to a large ethnic market that sells a lot of Asian and Hispanic foods. I do really well in there, but it takes me more time because a lot of the products are unfamiliar to me.

 

During our 100$/ week experiment I bought almost exclusively from ethnic markets in poor neighborhoods. At my favorite place milk is 2.89/ gallon, chicken 1.19/ lb, broccoli 1.50 a bunch, potatoes 99 cents for 3 lbs. This is why I'm skeptical when people talk about food deserts for the urban poor. The best shopping around here is in precisely those neighborhoods.

[kewb]

I could probably make a few more cuts but we are pretty bare bones. Plus, there are some things I won't chintz on.

[bethben]

We spend less than $700 a month for a family of 6 with three boys and a high energy girl who all have incredibly high metabolisms (my 4 year old girl eats as much as I do). This amount includes paper products. I buy one bag of chips a week as the "fun" food and make everything else from scratch using whole grains I get from a local co-op. I shop at Aldi's for fruit and Costco for those things that are cheaper there. We buy meat in bulk from a local farmer who doesn't use anti-biotics or hormones unless needed. We don't live in a cheap area for groceries either. I'm shocked at what I've heard some pay for produce - it's only in my dreams. So, all that to say, I think you could cut out some - 30% may be a stretch, but I think you could cut down.

 

Beth

Beth

[SwallowTail]

I wish I could, but don't think I could do that much. I have made some adjustments recently that may help a bit htough.

[fractalgal]

 

What do you think? Do you think you could cut your grocery budget by 30%?

 

I've not read the other posts, but here are my thoughts. Perhaps by making a list of what meals you plan to have for the week and then taking a quick inventory of what items you already have available before you make your shopping list would help reduce what you actually have to purchase.

 

You could also shop with a calculator. I add up everything as I put it in my cart. It helps me in two ways. First, I am able to see if what I am putting in my cart actually adds up to what the prices say I will be charged. Second, it helps me see when I've reached a certain dollar value. I am usually able to keep the total below a certain amount. Although I have not seen any other shoppers in the store do this, so perhaps I do stand out. ;)

[LibraryLover]

I'm in.

Edited May 13, 2012 by LibraryLover

[LibraryLover]

Sob! Tofutti Cuties are amazing. I so miss them. ( It's been awhile since I bought them. They are so good!)

 

 

 

- no expensive vegan ice cream.

 

QUOTE]

Edited May 12, 2012 by LibraryLover

[DarlaS]

Maybe, but I don't want to.

 

:iagree:

 

Although keeping dh out of the store would probably knock off more than that. :tongue_smilie:

[Jenny in Florida]

I've not read the other posts, but here are my thoughts. Perhaps by making a list of what meals you plan to have for the week and then taking a quick inventory of what items you already have available before you make your shopping list would help reduce what you actually have to purchase.

 

You could also shop with a calculator. I add up everything as I put it in my cart. It helps me in two ways. First, I am able to see if what I am putting in my cart actually adds up to what the prices say I will be charged. Second, it helps me see when I've reached a certain dollar value. I am usually able to keep the total below a certain amount. Although I have not seen any other shoppers in the store do this, so perhaps I do stand out. ;)

 

I do both of these things, too. I make a list of potential meals for the week and buy only what I need to make those happen along with what I have on hand and anything that is on sale.

 

I don't use a calculator, but I do keep a running tally of approximate costs as I go along, rounding up so I can see the worst-case scenario. So, if I put in the cart an item that costs $1.69, I put two hash marks on my paper. Then, when the next item

[melissel]

Whew! Thanks for the thoughts, everyone. Sorry I'm late getting back--accidentally fell asleep with the kids the other night and have been running since I woke up the next morning :D

 

My reasons for wanting to save the $200 a month are practical (DH's income is so variable that we're trying to save as much as we can for the leaner months; we need to reinstate our college fund contributions; we need to up our meager retirement savings; I'll need a new car in the next few years; etc.). But I'm also philosophically opposed to spending extra on any part of our budget just because I haven't really made a serious effort to curb unnecessary spending there.

 

Like some of you, I tend to waste more food than I like--for example, my post about the package of sausage links that I left hanging around in the fridge this week because I thought they lasted longer than they actually do! I thought I was doing so well by not eating out at all this week, and I had earmarked that package for last night's meatloaf, but I neglected to check the date when I thawed it :( It was only maybe $3.50 worth of lost food, but even once a week or so, that kind of waste adds up!

 

I definitely need to be more organized to avoid that kind of thing, but I also feel like we eat SO much. We could all stand to lose a few pounds (and some of us, more than a few *ahem* :blushing:), so it's not like we're already going hungry here. My biggest challenge is that I really need to be eating gluten-free, and the more carbs in my diet in general, the worse I feel overall. So I do best on a diet of pretty much meat and veggies, but that's an expensive lifestyle!

 

I do need to do better about planning meals. I did pretty well this week (the sausage incident and another chicken broth fiasco notwithstanding), and I managed two "eating out" near misses :D Otherwise, I don't buy a lot of "fun" food like chips or ice cream, processed food, or paper goods (we use cloth napkins, rags, etc.), so I can't cut there either.

 

I guess I'm mainly looking at portion control, more efficient use of leftovers and thawed foods to manage waste, less eating out, and better shopping of sales to take advantage of deals, huh? I'll look over everyone's advice again to see if I can glean more. I need to take notes this time :lol:

 

I appreciate the discussion!

[melissel]

I would love to try! NEED to, actually! I'll try along with you.

 

Myblessings3, I realized after I posted that this month would be a bad month for me to start a challenge--we're traveling in a few weeks, and while I have money set aside for the food, we'll be feeding 14-15 people for 3-4 days, and our budget is going to be totally whacked out because of it. I'm going to start monitoring in mid-June, so I can check back in and see where we are. Go for it though, and let me know if you make any progress!

[LaxMom]

Portion control was something I had to really learn (and periodically have a refresher, lol). A while ago, we used Cooking Light recipes exclusively for almost a year. That really helped to reset my portion perception (and my husband and I each dropped about 40lbs). It also helped to plan the grocery shopping, since I had a very specific ingredient list for the week. I'm not big on recipes, and I think that contributes to overpurchase and waste for me.

 

Robin Miller might also be helpful in planning. Her thing is meal plans where each meal contributes to the next, so leftovers are purposely created with a scheduled use in mind.

 

I'd love to have a budget grocery planning thread next month, to bounce meal ideas off one another. :D

[Tutor]

If I cut mine by 30%, we'd be at around $200 a month for 4 people, 2 dogs, and a cat. I don't think any of us would be happy with that.

 

Ours would be about $200 for a family of 6 people (2 with gluten intolerance and 1 with dairy intolerance) and 1 dog if we cut 30% out. I think my family would revolt... unless we started hunting and gathering, then possibly. But that's not likely.

[MrsBear]

 

I definitely need to be more organized to avoid that kind of thing, but I also feel like we eat SO much. We could all stand to lose a few pounds (and some of us, more than a few *ahem* :blushing:), so it's not like we're already going hungry here. My biggest challenge is that I really need to be eating gluten-free, and the more carbs in my diet in general, the worse I feel overall. So I do best on a diet of pretty much meat and veggies, but that's an expensive lifestyle!

 

I do need to do better about planning meals. I did pretty well this week (the sausage incident and another chicken broth fiasco notwithstanding), and I managed two "eating out" near misses :D Otherwise, I don't buy a lot of "fun" food like chips or ice cream, processed food, or paper goods (we use cloth napkins, rags, etc.), so I can't cut there either.

 

I guess I'm mainly looking at portion control, more efficient use of leftovers and thawed foods to manage waste, less eating out, and better shopping of sales to take advantage of deals, huh? I'll look over everyone's advice again to see if I can glean more. I need to take notes this time :lol:

 

I appreciate the discussion!

 

In most areas the sales circulars come out and weekly sales start on Wednesday, running until the next Tuesday. I usually pick up, or have DH pick up, the Wednesday paper so I can look through the circulars - if I forget, they're also online, so you can look at them there too.

 

I do that at home because trying to figure it out, walking into the store and then looking at the circular doesn't work as well since I can and often do shop at three stores that are near each other and they all compete on price, especially for vegetables and fruits, so while one might have strawberries for $2.99, the other might have them for $1.99 and if I didn't look before going, I'd not know the store I was in that had them for $2.99 on their cover wasn't the best price that week!

 

I spend about an hour going through them and seeing what is on sale at the three main stores in our area and figuring out who has the best price on many of the staples we buy each week (things like berries, tomatoes, onions, etc. that are perishable) and begin my list and menu for the week.

 

I personally don't like being locked into one particular meal, so when planning, I have some flexibility to make a few different things with the things I plan out and some things are two meals in one prep.

 

For example, for two in one prep, if we're having something like ham, I'll make dinner and while cleaning up after we eat, I'll throw the bone into the crock pot with dried split peas, an onion and whatever else and leave it on low overnight and it'll be done in the morning - now I have a meal for either lunch or dinner sometime later in the week or I can freeze it to have a meal on-hand and ready to just heat up sometime in the future.

 

When I'm making my list, I usually pair together the meat and vegetables for different meals, to make sure I buy enough, but they really can be for any meal through the week.

 

I might go through and plan out steak & asparagus, chicken & spinach, burgers and green beans, sausage and peppers/onions, chicken and zucchini/summer squash, taco salad, and pork chops and mixed veggies....but wind up with meatloaf and green beans, grilled chicken and asparagus, etc. With a variety of different options, you keep flexibility throughout the week!

 

Most nights we start with a salad or some soup or other appetizer type option, like an assortment of cheese & fruit.....so some things we always have on hand, like salad fixings.

 

I don't buy a wide variety of meat each week - we buy a lot of meat locally in bulk, by the half or quarter, so when planning I do account for what's in the freezer too....and also will buy at the store if it's on sale and then package for the freezer at home when it's on sale rather than need it and it's not on sale.....when particular meats go on sale (organic, pastured, grass-fed, etc.), I will buy a lot and freeze it so we have it on hand rather than have to pay more because it's no on sale all that often. But to do that, you have to have the $ to do it built into your food budget because sometimes things go on sale and they're not on a sale cycle.

 

Like last night, when I was at the organic grocery in town to pick up milk (that was all I was going in for), the chicken breasts (organic, pastured, boneless) were three days before sell by/freeze by date and were being reduced from $6.99 a pound to $2.99 a pound - they're already packaged to go into the freezer, so I bought ten packages and tossed them into the freezer when I got home - we're now good for boneless chicken for a while!

 

I use coupons for some things, even organic items have them out there, you just have to look for them. I save the most on HBA, paper products and cleaning products though and usually get those at the drug store since their sales are usually better and come with incentives (like register rewards, etc.) to buy there....usually the price is better than double-coupon on sale price at the grocery store. Like a pp, we have stocked up on things like toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, razors, etc. when they're heavily on sale at the drug store and coupons bring the price to insanely low or in some instances, free. I also coupon for things we don't eat ourselves, but I can donate to the food bank.

[LibraryLover]

I'd follow a food thread. :)

Edited May 12, 2012 by LibraryLover

[ChristyB in TN]

I'm in. I am doing more than 30%, though. I started this morning. I am at work and working on my weekly bookkeeping so it is a fantastic time to work on my household budget, too. I made a deposit for the office and got some cash out for my grocery budget envelope. I will let you know... I am reading all the advice here and taking notes. I love this forum.

[nova147]

On the theme of don't let DH shop . . . mine just spent as much for Mother's Day dinner as I usually spend in a week. (I think my FIL will give him some money for it, as they are working together to make dinner for MIL and I.)